Circular knitting machine



g- 1941- I P. L.THURSTON ETAL 2,251,532

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 17, 1940 .11 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Au 5, 1941. P. L. THURSTON ETAL I 35L 2 CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 17, 1940- 11 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 We v w a W ATTORNEY g- 1941- P. L. THURSTON ETAL 2,251,532

' CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 17, 1940 ll Sheets-Sheet 5 ZRK I'M I Y EWQ a ATT RNEY Aug. 5, 1941. P. L. THURSTON ETAL 2,251,532

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 1'7, 1940 ll Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1941.

P. L. THURSTON ETAL I 2,251,532

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE I V 11 Sheets-Sheet s I Filed Feb. 17, 1940 BY Rmwam ATTO RN E Y Aug. 5, 1941. P. 1.. THURSTON 'ET AL 2,251,532

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Feb. 17, 1940 11 Sheets-Sheet e ATT'ORN Aug. 5, 1941.

P. L. THURSTON ET AL CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE 11 Sheets-Sfieet 7 Filed Feb. 17, 1940 y JINIVENTORS' ATTORNEY Aug. 5, 1941. L. THURSTON ETAL 3 L 3 CIRCULAR KNITTING vMACHINE Filed Feb; 17, 1940 11 Sheets-Sheet a g? MVENTORS We QMQR'IEKJ" ATTORNEY v Aug. 5, 1941. Y P. L. TH UR STON an. 2,251,532

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed Febl 17, 1940 '11 Sheets-Sheet 9 NVENTORS ATTORNEY P. L. THUIRSTONI ETAL 2,251,532

CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE ll Sheets-Sheet 10 Filed Feb. 17, 1940 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 P. THURSTON El'AL cmcumm KNITTING MACHINE Fiied Feb. 17, 1940 a vx K Aug. 5; 1941.

w 2 v5 I 111111 1 INV ENTORS QMUQUQ ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 5, 1941 CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Paul L. Thurston and Harrison F. Hilker, Martinsburg, W. Va., assignors to Interwoven Stocking Company, New Brunswick, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 17,1940, Serial No. 319,454

18 Claims.

Our invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described, reference being had to the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of circular knitting machine embodying our invention, selected by us for purposes of illustration, and said invention is fully disclosed in the following description and claims.

Our invention consists in va circular knitting machine for producing by reciprocating knitting, a straight-non-tubular piece of plain knit fabric, having a 'continuous'elastic thread incorporated therein in certain preferably spaced courses, and united to' the fabric at spaced wales in said courses and floated on the inner face of the fabric across an intervening wale, or intervening wales, so as to form horizontally extending beads on the inner face of the fabric, the said piece of circular knit non-tubular fabric being of such width, and having such number of stitches in the courses thereof as to permit it to be united, stitch for stitch to the upper end of the leg portion of a flat knit or full-fashioned sock, anklet or stocking, and to form a self-supporting top therefor, by transferring it to a straight or fullfashioned knitting machine, or by looping or sewing it to the leg portion produced thereby, or otherwise, the ends of the said circular knit non-tubular fabric being united by a continuationof theseam connecting the marginal edges of the full-fashioned foot and leg of the stocking.

The process of knitting a stocking top'of this construction, and combining it with a full-fashioned leg and foot, as'well as the stocking top, and the sock, anklet-or stocking, so produced,

5 are disclosed in and covered by the claims of our former application for Letters Patent of the United States, filed by us October 5, 1939, and given Serial No. 297,970, and these subjects matter are not claimed herein. It will be understood that the horizontal beads formed on the inner face of the straight, non-tubular, circular knit top by the floated portions'of the elastic thread will indent the skin of the wearer and interlock therewith so as to support the top and the leg of the sock, anklet or stocking upon the leg, and dispense with all necessity for garters or otherextraneous supporting means.

As is well-known, full-fashioned hosiery is formed as a flat fabric on a machine capable of simultaneously producing an entire course of stitches, of varying lengths to facilitate the fashioning of the stocking, sock or anklet, and this flat fabric is subsequently folded on a vertical central line, and the edges are united by a seam extending vertically down the back of the leg,

and along the bottom of the foot portion to complete the article. These machines are very complicated and very expensive, and operative at comparatively slow speed. It has been proposed to introduce elastic thread into the top o fa fullfashioned sock, or anklet, for garter purposes, but this involves material changes in and additions to the already extremely complicated knitting machines, increasing the expense thereof, and the introduction of an elastic thread in the I operation of such machines further slows down their operation so that the output per day is comparatively small.

According to our invention we form the formfitting and self-supporting top for a full-fashioned leg and foot by knitting the top of plain knitting with incorporated elastic thread, preferably in-the manner hereinafter described, on a simple circular plain knitting machine of the kind provided with a circular series of independently operable needles and operating cam mechanism and means for establishing relative'rotation between the needle cylinder and cam mechanism for the production of a knitted tube. These machines are very simple in construction, can be made very cheaply, and can be operated at extremely high speeds. We prefer to use a circular plain knitting machine of this type, which is not complicated by any narrowing and widening mechanism or other foot forming means, although obviously, our invention could be carried out on any machine capable of, making a tubular plain knit fabric.

In carrying out our invention, we select a circular plain knitting machine having a greater number of needles than a single section of the full-fashioned knitting machine whichis to knit thefull-fashioned leg and foot of the stocking, sock or anklet, and remove therefrom a group of consecutive needles of the circular series of needles so as to leave a number of needles equal to the number of needles of the full-fashioned machine section, in order to knit the top as a non-circular plain knit fabric having vertical selvages at its opposite lateral edges, and to facilitate the attachment of said top to the fullfashioned leg by transferring the top to the needles of the full-fashioned knitting machine, or by looping, sewing or otherwise. The circular knitting machine is then operated in the formation of the top by reciprocating circular movement in conjunction with means for feeding a body thread to all the remaining needles in every course, and an elastic thread in selected and preferably spaced courses in which it is fed to selected, and preferably spaced-needles, in any one of the known ways in which an elastic thread may be incorporated in a'plain knit fabric, so as to provide a series of horizontal floats on the inner face of the fabric to indent the skin of the wearer and support the stocking on the leg.

This produces what we term in the following' description and claims, a plain knit circular knit form-fitting and self-supporting flat top for a full fashioned stocking, preferably having a transfer course of stitches equal in number to the number of needles of one section of a fullfashioned knitting machine, and which can therefore be straightened out into a single plane, transferred to the needles of a full-fashioned machine to knit the leg and foot integrally therewith. the stocking being completed by seaming together the lateral selvages of the fiat knit foot and leg and the lateral selvages'of the top' to form a complete full-fashioned stocking, sock or anklet, or as above indicated, the leg and foot may be knit separately on a full-fashioned machine, and the circular knit top may be applied thereto by looping, stitching, or in any other desired manner.

As the top is knit by reciprocating work on the circular knitting machine, the introduction of the elastic thread will obviously take place first in one direction and then in the other direction in' immediately succeeding courses in which it is incorporated, thereby producing adjacent to the lateral edges or selv ages of the top, vertical floats where the elastic thread is carried from one course to the succeeding course in which it is incorporated. It is particularly desirable to make this top by reciprocating work on the circular knitting machine in order to provide vertical selvages at each lateral edge of the top, and also to avoid cutting the elastic thread which is fed under appreciable tension. In this manner of knitting, the elastic thread is continuous throughout the top and the individual portions in each course will retain the tension under which the elastic thread was fed.

It is known that an elastic thread may be incorporated in knitted fabrics in a number of ways, including the following:

1. By laying-in (as it is termed in the art) the elastic thread, by feeding it to the selected and preferably spaced needles, so that it lies'below the latches thereof prior to the drawing of a stitch of body thread thereby in which case the elastic thread does not form part of any stitch, but is united to the fabric by the encirclement of the sinker wales on opposite sides of the stitches formed by the selected needles.

2.. By, feeding. the elastic thread to selected needles in plating relation with the body thread so that the stitches drawn by such selected needles will contain both the body thread and the elastic thread.

3. By feeding the elastic thread to the hooks of selected needles which draw a stitch of the elastic thread through the previously formed stitch of body thread which is cast 01!.

Our invention may be carried out in any one of these ways, but for purposes of illustration, we have herein described the incorporation of the elastic thread by the first mentioned method, to wit, the .laying-in of the elastic thread, so that it is not knit, but is held by the sinker wales on opposite sides of the stitches formed by the selected needles. In the formation of the circular knit top, we prefer to provide it with a preliminary anti-ravel course of stitches at its upper edge through all of which the elastic thread extends, preferably by feeding the elastic thread to every other of the needles which are temporarily raised above the intervening needles,

then raising the intervening needles to the same level as the selected needles and subsequently raising all the needles to bring the elastic thread below the latches of the selected needles and subsequently feeding the body thread to the hooks of all the needles which then draw loops of the body thread on opposite sides of the elastic thread to form the anti-ravel course. This involves a 1 x 1 needle selection for the antiravel course. We prefer to provide in the subsequent courses, and preferably beginning with the second course of the top, for a wider needle selection which may be a separation of two,

three, four or other. number of needles between the selected needles, as may be found most advantageous.

We also prefer to introduce the elastic thread in spaced courses, as it is more expensive than the ordinary body thread, but on account of the reciprocations of the machine, it can only be in troduced either in a course following the preceding course containing it, or a course separated therefrom in which the travel of the reciprocating cylinder will be in the proper direction that is to say, the first, third, filth or seventh, and so forth, course following a preceding course containing it. In this instance we have shown the elastic thread incorporated in the second course, immediately after the formation of the anti ravel edge, and thereafter in every third course, uniformly through the fabric, although it isnot essential that the separation of the elastic thread bearing courses should be uniform throughout the top andany desired arrangement is within the scope of our invention. We wish it to be understood, however, that the formation of the anti-ravel course may be omitted, and the anti-ravel effect produced by turning over a welt and stitching it, or by the formation of any other type of antiravel edge.

In the accompanying drawings in which we have shown one form of circular knitting machine embodying our invention- Fig. 1 is afront elevation of a circular knitting machine embodying our present invention.

Fig. 2 is a right side elevation of the machine.

Fig. 3 is a left side elevation of the machine.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of the machine.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view of the machine taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a. horizontal sectional view of the machine taken on the line 6li in Fig. 1.

Fig. .7 is a diagrammatic exterior view of the a cylinderand cams of the knitting machine as they would appear if out vertically at one point and spread out in a single plane, and illustrating the rotary movement of the cylinder in a clockwise direction.

Fig. 8 is a similar diagrammatic view, with the cylinder cut at a different point and indicating the position of the parts during the movement of the cylinder in either direction after all the needles have received their thread or threads.

Fig.9 is a view similar to Fig. 7 showing the cylinder cut at a slightly different point, and illustrating the movement of the cylinder in a counterclock-wise direction opposite to that indicated in Fig. 'I.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detail partial sectional ,view illustrating the needle cylinder, the needles,

jacks and cams, and illustrating the relations of the 'partsin effecting the desiredneedle selection for producing the anti-ravel edge.

Fig. 11 is a similar view showing the parts in the positions which they occupy during the knitting of intermediate courses between the selected courses in which the elastic thread is incorporated.

Fig. 12 is a similar view showing the parts in the positions which they occupy to effect a needle separation in the courses of the top in which the elastic thread is incorporated.

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view of the inner face of the circular knit rubber incorporated top for full-fashioned hosiery provided with a course of enlarged transfer stitches and ravel courses, for facilitating the transfer of the top to a straight knitting machine.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of a full-fashioned sock or anklet having the circular knit top united to the upper end of the leg thereof.

are shown diagrammatically in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, and are supported by the usual cam block and cam ring 20. 1

Means is provided for establishing reciprocating relative rotary movement between the needle cylinder and the cam mechanisms. In the embodiment illustrated, the cam ring is stationary while the cylinder is rotated first in one direction approximately two and one quarter revolutions and then in the other direction to the same extent by mechanism comprising a gear segment 2M carried by a pivoted bell crank m which is connected by a link 202 with a crank pin 203 on a gear wheel I05 driven by a gear I06 on main drive shaft I01. The gear segment 2M meshes with a gear 204 'which is freely rotatable on shaft I01 and which drives the needle cylinder through suitable bevel gearing. The main knitting cam is indicated at 5, and auxiliary cams 6 Fig. 15 is a perspective view, of a completed sock or anklet having a full-fashioned foot and leg,,and the circular knit rubber incorporated self-supporting top.

In carrying out our present invention, we employ a circular knitting machine capable of producing plain knitting and provided with a circular series of independently operable needles greater in number than the number of needles in one section of the straight knitting machine which is to knit the leg portion of the sock, anklet or stocking, below and immediately following the top, so that a certain number of consecutive needles may be removed from the grooves of the needle cylinder, to form a gap, and leave-in the needle grooves exactly the same number of consecutive needles as are present in the straight knitting machine sections. This facilitates the union of the top with the leg portion, stitch for stitch, by transferring, looping or otherwise, and preferably by transferring a series of transfer loops adjacent to the-lower edge of the top to needles of the straight knitting machine and knitting the leg portion integral with the top.

We prefer to employ for the knitting of the top a circular knitting machine not provided with narrowing and widening mechanism, as such machines 'are simpler and cheaper, and the narrowing and widening mechanism is not needed for carrying out our invention. It will be understood, however, that our invention may be embodied in any circular knitting machine capable of producing plain knitting on a single circularseries of needles by reciprocating work.

In the machine illustrated in the drawings, l represents the needle cylinder which is provided with means (not shown) for driving it first in one direction substantially two and one quarter revolutions, and then in the other direction to the same extent. A certain number of the independently operable needles have been removed from the cylinder leaving a gap, which is indicated at G in Figs. 5, '7, 8 and 9. In Figs. 7, 8 and 9, this gap appears in different locations in accordance with the different positions of the cylinder ro-' and 1 respectively, are arranged on opposite sides of cam 5, each of these auxiliary cams being movable into and out of operation, preferably radially with respect to the cylinder, one of the auxiliary knitting cams being moved into operative position when the cylinder is rotated in one direction and the other being brought into operation when the cylinder is rotated in the opposite direction, while the first mentioned auxiliary cam is withdrawn, and at certain times both auxiliary cams are withdrawn as indicated in Fig. 8 for example, in which both of said cams are shown in dotted lines, and as hereinafter described.

On opposite sides of the auxiliary cams 6 and I are arranged riser cams 9 and II respectively, the saiu cams being provided with cut away portions 9a and Ila respectively, in horizontal alignme at, with the auxiliary cams 6 and I. These cut away portions permit the knitting butts 3 of the needles to pass one or other of the riser cams according to the direction of rotation of the cylinder when the auxiliary cam adjacent thereto is in operative position as shown in Fig. 7. Adjacent to each of the auxiliary cams 6 and 1, there is provided a stationary riser cam 8 (or ill) extending in the opposite direction from the adjacent riser cam 9 (or il),'the stationary riser cams 8, and I0 being conveniently formed on the cam ring 20.

There are also provided on opposite sides of the main knitting cam mechanism the shunt cams l2 and I3 respectively, which are located in the horizontal plane of the cutaway portions of cams 9 and II, and independently movable into andout of position, according to the directarially with respect to the cam mechanism illustion of rotation of the cylinder for shunting the knitting butts of the needles upward into engagement with either earn 9 or H asthe case may be, as shown in Figs. 7 and 9. The shunt cams l2 and i3 may both be withdrawn at the same time from operative position to enable the needle butts to pass horizontally through the cutaway portions of cams 9 and II, when desired, as

shown in Fig. 8.

In this instance we prefer to provide the cam ring on the side opposite from the main knitting cam mechanism just described, with a secondary conditioning cam mechanism comprising a central cam 5a,- auxiliary cams-6a and la, on opposite sides of cam 5a, and cooperating with riser cams 8a and Illa, all of which are statio narily supported by the cam ring, andsecondary cam block.

In addition to the conditioning cam mechanism previously described, and cooperating therewith, the machine is provided with two jack selecting cams I4 and I5 located'below and on opposite sides of a vertical line passing through-the secondary knitting cam 5a, and engaging the butts of the selecting jacks as hereinafter described, said selecting cams being movable into and out of operative position radially of the cam ring or block, and operated by pattern controlled mechanism, hereinafter described, so that both selecting cams maybe out of operative position simultaneously, and-so that one .or other of said selecting cams may be moved into position to engage the long butts of the Jacks, or the long and short butts of the jacks, as required, and in accordance with the direction in which the cylinder is being rotated.

' l6 represents the thread feed finger for the body thread B, and I1 represents the thread feed finger for the elastic thread E, located on the opposite side of the cylinder from the feed finger l6, which will be a thread of rubber, or a thread composed of rubber and fibrous material such as that known under the registered trade-mark Lastex or any other kind of elastic thread which will accomplish the result desired.

1 also prefer to locate a latch opener IS in, frontof the feed finger l1, and a second latch opener IS in front of the thread'feed finger IE to insure all the latches of the bare needles being opened to receive the respective threads E and B, when beginning the first course of the top.

In the formation of the circular plain knit top embodying our invention, we prefer to start up on bare needles, and as before stated, to provide in the first course of the top, an anti-revel, and it will be thus described. Asuming that ther by the cam 6a of the conditioning cam mechanism,-so as to carry the elastic thread in side of the intermediate needles, thus interlacing it with the alternate and intermediate needles, and into the sinkers not shown), which will prevent the elastic thread from rising. At the same time the knitting butts 3 of all the needles are lowered to the same level just before they engage the riser cam 8a of the conditioning cam mechanism. The drawing down of the selected raised alternate needles also restores their jacks to normal position, as clearly shown in Fig. 7

After leaving the riser cam 8a the needles pass along horizontally with their knitting butts in engagement with the upper edge of the cam ring 20, until they reach the shunt cam I2 (shown at the right in Fig. 7) when all of the needles are raised by the engagement of their knitting butts with the shunt cam l2 to a level above that of the recessed portion of the riser cam H, which carries all of them upwards into position to be engaged by the latch opener l9, which insures the opening of the remaining needles, which did not receive the elafic thread.

As the needles are raised by the shunt cam I2 and riser cam H the elastic thread will be held by the sinkers and the needles will be raised high enough to carry the latches of those needles the cylinder is rotated in a clock-wise direction butts of the needle jacks which willthus raise every other needle, since the jacks for the intermediate needles have been removed. The feeding of elastic thread will always precede the formation of stitches of body thread and the first needles to receive the elastic-thread will be those at the right of the gap (3, as indicated at :c in Fig. 7, which represents the cylinder alter the first revolution of the cylinder is nearly completed.

As the portion of the cylinder indicated at :c approaches the feed finger II, for the elastic thread,. a needle separation is effected-fin the following manner. The jack cam I will engage both the short butts 4 and long butts in of the jacks, which are provided for the alternate needles only, and raise every other needle into position to be engaged by the latch opener I! (see Fig. 7), which insures the opening of the latches of the raised alternate needles, to receive the elastic thread E in their hooks, while the needles not provided with jacks are drawn downward vby the engagement of their knitting which received the elastic thread in their hooks above the elastic thread. Thereupon the knitting buttsof all of the needles engage the main knitting cam 5 and are drawn down in the usual knitting wave by that cam and the auxiliary knitting cam 6, taking the body thread B in their hooks as they descend, and by reason of the interlacement of the elastic thread E with the needles, drawing stitch loops with alternate needles on opposite sides of the elastic thread, the position of which is indicated by dotted lines in its relation to the needles in Fig. 7.- This forms an elastlcanti-ravel course. The portion of the needles adjacent to the point :r of the cylinder on the right hand side of the gap G (Fig. 7) will now have stitch loops of body thread thereon, while the elastic thread will extend through all of said loops to form the anti-rave], but it is necessary to continue the rotation of the cylinder substantially in an entire additional revolution in order that the first course of knitting in this manner may be completed and the portion of the cylinder on the opposite side of gap G, indicated at 11, shall be carried past the thread feed finger II for the elasticthread E, and also the thread feed finger l6 for the body thread 1% As a matter of fact, in order to insure-thecompletion of, the movement.-.of the cylinderin each direction during its reciprocabutts 3, with the cam la of the conditioning tion, we construct the driving mechanism for the cylinder in such a manner as to produce a movement thereof in each direction through substantially two and a quarter revolutions before reversing;

In order to prevent the needles which have received both the elastic thread and body thread during the movement of the cylinder in one direction from being drawn down and raised by the knitting cam mechanism the second time they pass said cam mechanism, the shunt em I! (or l3) which has just been in operative position, is withdrawn and the auxiliary cam 8 (or 'I) which has been in operative position, and the selector cam H (or 15) which has been in operative position, are also withdrawn, as shown in Fig. 8. This permits the knitting .butts I of all the needles to pass through the recessed portions of the riser cams ll an'd 9 and past the auxiliary knitting cams 6 and I (see Fig. 8), no matter in which direction the cylinder is rotating, without operating the needles a second time, and as both of the selector cams are withdrawn the knitting butts of all .the needles will pass under the conditioning cams Ga and la and be elevated by the adjacent riser cam 8aor Illa, without making a second'needle selection, or feeding elastic thread E to the needles which have already received it. It will also be understood that after all of the needles have received the body thread B, and each needle has drawn a stitch, the latch openers cam perform no further useful function and they are therefore withdrawn to inoperative position and are not restored to operative position until the next top is set up on bare needles.

We prefer to providesthe second course of the top, or in other words, the course which immediately follows the anti-ravel course, with the elastic thread, which in this and all subsequent courses in which it appears, is fed to' selected needles, preferably spaced more widely than in the anti-ravel course, although this is not essential. In other words, the anti-ravel could be followed by a course of stitches not containing the elastic thread at all, and in the subsequent courses of the top in which the elastic thread is incorporated, it can be fed to selected needles having the same spacing as in' the anti-rave], or any desired spacing, if this,

is found desirable, it being understood however that by reason of the fact that the cylinder rotates first in one direction and then in the other, the separation of courses between any course containing elastic thread and the next following course containing elastic thread, must of necessity be an odd number of courses, that is to say. the elastic thread must be fed either in the next adjacent course to a previous course containing elastic thread, or in the third, fifth or seventh course thereafter. As hereinafter set forth, we prefer, after incorporating it in the course immediately following the anti-ravel course, to incorporate it in every third course of knitting.

It will be understood that in the second course of the top, or in other words, the course immediately following the anti-ravel, the cylinder will be rotated two and a quarter revolutions in a counterclockwise direction (See Fig.9), in which the direction of rotation is indicated by the arrow above the figure. The preceding revolution 'of the cylinder in the opposite'direction, as in Fig. 7, will terminate with the gap G, carried beyond the feed mechanism for the elastic thread, at the left of Fig. 9. As the direction of rotation changes to counter-clockwise, the selector cam I5 is moved inwardly to an intermediate position in which it will engage only the long butts of the jacks, so as to raise every fourth needle, as indicated in Fig. 9, to receive the elastic thread E as the needles pass the thread feed finger II for the first time, in the manner previously described, the selected needles being drawn'by the conditioning cams 5a. and la 'to interlace the elastic thread between the selected needles and the intervening unselected needles, and place the elastic thread in control of the sinkers. At

the same time the shunt cam l3'will be moved into operative position and the auxiliary knitting cam I is moved into operative position, so

that all of the needles will be raised by the shunt cam I3 and riser cam 9 and carry the. latches of the selected needles above the elastic thread, and will receive the body thread. as they pass the thread feed finger IS the first time, each needle drawing a stitch of body thread through the loop of body thread thereon, which is cast off while the elastic thread which has been interlaced between the selected and unselected needles, as previously described, will pass over the hooks of the selected needles and be retained by the sinker loops of the stitches just formed. During the second passage of the needles past the thread feed fingers I1 and IS, the selector cam l5, the'shunt cam l3 and auxiliar knitting cam I, are withdrawn as previously described and as indicated in Fig. 8, so as to avoid feeding the elastic thread or body thread a second time to the needles during the second revolution of the cylinder.

In Fig. 13, which shows the inside of the-fabric of the top, s represents the anti-ravel or selvage previously described and s represents the immediately following course which also contains the elastic thread, united to the fabric by the sinker loops of every fourth stitch or wale as just described. It will also be understood that the elastic thread is continuous and that the portions in each course are connected by vertical floats, indicated at E, extending from each course containing the elastic thread to the next course containing it, as clearly indicated in Fig. 13, a vertical selvage indicated at S being formed at the opposite ends of the fabric. We prefer, in the knitting of the remaining part of the top, to incorporate the elastic thread in every third course, as shown, so that in the intermediate courses, indicated at a and b, a and b, the body thread only will be knitted, the ,elastic thread being incorporated in courses c, 0, etc., in the remaining portions of the top. In knitting th course indicated at a following the second course containing the elastic thread, which is indicated in Fig. 13 at s, the rotation of thecylinder is reversed and the course knitted exactly as described with reference to Fig. 7, except that both the selecting cams l4 and [5 remain in'inoperative position, so that the needles receive only the body thread B from the thread feed finger l6 and draw loops through the stitches of the preceding course. Course I) is knit in the same manner as indicated in Fig. 9, the direction of rotation 'of the cylinder being reversed and both selecting cams remaining in inoperative position, the shunt cam l2 being withdrawn and the shunt cam-i3 being moved into operative position for knitting the main knitting thread B only on each of the needles throughout the courses a and b. It will also be understood that the elastic thread is fed under a desired degree of tension by any suitable tension means, and we have illustrated at 2| in the drawings, a suitable tension device comprising opposed discs, 2 la, held together by a spring 2") adjustable by a nut 2lc or other suitable means, whereby the desired tension may be imparted to the elastic' various cams being otherwise as shown in Fig. 7, and the course being knit by feeding the elastic thread E to the spaced selected needles, in this case every fourth needle, the selected needles being drawn down by the conditioning cams a and 6a to interlace the elastic thread with the selected and unselected needles, and place the elastic thread in the control of the sinkers, after which the needles are carried around to the shunt cam 12 and raised to clear the recess in the riser cam II. The needles are again further raised by cam II to carry the latches of the selected needles above the elastic thread, which is held in the sinkers. The needles are then drawn down the usual knitting wave by knitting cam 5 and auxiliary knitting cam 6, to take the body thread in their hooks and draw stitches through the stitch loops of the preceding course, the elastic thread passing over the latches and tops of the hooks of the selected needles and being united to the fabric by the sinker loops. as before described. As will be understood, the cylinder continues to revolve in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 7, to make substantially two and a quarter revolutions, the selecting cam H, the shunt cam l2, and the auxiliary knitting cam 6, being withdrawn from operative position, so that the needles may pass the thread feed fingers l6 and I1 without taking either the .body thread or the elastic thread the second time (see Fig. 8).

The knitting of the fabric in this manner continues for the desired number of courses and in each of the courses containing the elastic thread following the selvage course s, the float portions of the elastic thread, indicated at e, see Figs. 13 and 14, will form substantially continuous beads on the inner face of the fabric as previously stated.

After the last course containing the elastic thread, indicated at ca: in Fig. 13, has been knit, we prefer to knit several courses, for example four courses d, d2, d3 and d4, of plain knitting without the elastic thread, followed by a transfer course I, of stitches of the body thread (see Fig. 13) in which the stitches are enlarged or elongated to facilitate transfer. The enlargement of the transfer stitches may be accomplished either by moving the sinkers inward to a greater extent during the formation of this special course or by increasing the length of the stitches by downward adjustment of the auxiliary knitting cam 6 or I, or both. After the transfer course I l as previously described, and extending transversely first in one direction and then in the other, the top having lateral, longitudinal selvages S formed at opposite sides of the gap G. The tops are then separated from each other by cutting the elastic thread close to the last stitch in which it occurs and severing the body thread, so as to leave an end which is available for unravelling the ravel courses 9', g2. etc., back to the transfer course after the transferstitches thereof have been transferred to'the needles of a full fashioned knitting machine. The leg of the stocking is knit integrally with the circular plain knit form fitting and self-supporting top. No binder or cutter is therefore required on the circular knittingmachine and the thread feed fingers remain always in operative position.

It will be understood that the leg and foot of the stocking may be made on the same full fashioned machine, or the leg may be knit on one full fashioned machine and then transferred to a full fashioned footer on which the foot is knit. In either case the completed stocking will be like that shown in Figs. 14 and 15 in which T represents the circular plain knit form fitting top, L the full fashioned leg and F the full fashioned foot. The stocking is completed, as shown in Fig. 15, by uniting the edges of the stocking fabric in the usual manner, to form the seam S extending down the back of the top T of the leg, the leg L, the heel portion along the bottom of the foot to the toe in the usual manner, the portion of the same at its upper end, indicated at $2 uniting the longitudinal selvage edges S of the top T. It will be noted, with reference to 'Fig. 14 that the elastic thread E is continuous throughout all the courses in which it occurs and is connected from one courseto the next course in which it occurs at or adjacent to opposite edges of the selvage of the fabric, and is united to the fabric to form the longitudinal floats, indicated at e in Figs. 13 and 14.

Having described the needle and thread con-. trolling elements of the machine, we will now describe the apparatus by which these elements are controlled automatically from suitable pattern mechanism, by reference to Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive. In these figures, see particularly Fig. 5, the cam 5 of the main knitting cam mechanism is shown supported by a bracket 5:: on the cam plate, and the auxiliary knitting cams 6 and I are supported by horizontal slides 22 and 23 respectively, secured to the cam block by screws engaging slots 22a and 23a in said slides so that the auxiliary cams may be moved alternately into and out of operative relation with the knitting the needles before they receive the body thread,

and permitting the latches of all the needles to close, and enabling the needles to cast off the loops of the last knitted raveling course of plain knit fabric, so that the top will drop from the machine and be suspended within the cylinder by portions of the body thread B and elastic thread E between the last stitches containing the same, and the feed fingers therefor, and the machine will then be automatically placed in the condition shown in Fig. 7 to enable a new top to be set up on bare needles, and the operations previously described to be repeated in the sequence indicated.

This leaves thetops as they come from the machine in the form of flat pieces of plain knitting with the elastic thread incorporated therein,

butts 3 of the needles. At the side of the top plate of the machine, indicated at 24, there is mounted a tubular shaft 25 in suitable bearings. This shaft 25 is provided centrally with a crank 26 connected by a link 2! with one end of a lever 28, the other end ofwhich is connected by link 29 with the slide 22 for the auxiliary cam 6. The tubular shaft 25 is also provided with an actuating arm 30 connected with one end of a lever 3| pivoted to,the mainframe at its opposite end and provided with a lug 32. for engaging a cam track 33 on a rotating cam wheel 34, operated under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine, for throwing theauxiliary earn 6 into and out of operative relation to the needle butts at the proper times, as previously described.

The auxiliary knitting cam 1 is in like manner operated by a shaft 35 which conveniently exin operative engagement slide 23 carrying the other auxiliary knitting cam 1.

The opposite end of the shaft 35 is provided with an arm 49 connected by a link with the outer end of a lever 4|, pivoted at its opposite end to the main frame and lying parallel to the lever 3| and provided with a projection 42 for engaging a second cam track 43 of the cam wheel 34, for controlling the movements of the auxiliary cam 1 under the control of the pattern mechanism of the machine, the details of which need not be particularly described. Suitable springs 21a. and 31a are shown in Fig. 5 connected respectively with the links 21 and 31 in such manner as to normally tend to force the auxiliary knitting cams into operative position so that the cam tracks 33 and 43 will act to withdraw the auxiliary cams 6 or 1 from normal position.

On the opposite side of the cylinder I from the knitting cams 5, 6 and 1, are located the conditioning cams 5a, 6a and 1a, which are supported by suitable brackets rigidly connected to the secondary cam block, see Fig. 5, as these cams always remain in the same positions throughout the operation of the machine, as previously indicated.

The shunt cams I2 and I3 are indicated on opposite sides of the cylinder in Fig. 5, each being supported by a horizontal slide mounted in a suitable guide, secured to the frame work of the machine. The shunt cam I2 is mounted on the slide 44, connected with its supporting guide 45 by a spring 46 normallyv tending to force the cam I2 into operative relation with the butts of the needle jacks. The slide 44 is connected by a link 41 with an arm 48 on a tubular shaft 49, see Figs. 3 and 5, the shaft 49 being broken away in Fig. 5 and the opposite end of the shaft 49 being illustrated at the right in Fig. 2. A shaft .59 extends through the hollow shaft 49 and is provided at one end with a crank 58 connected by a link 51 with one end of a lever'51a, the other end 51b of which engages a set screw 54a extending through a depending portion 54b of the slide 54, which carries the shunt cam I3, the slide 54 being mounted in a fixed guide 55 and provided with a spring 56 tending to mov the shunt cam I3 into operative position while the lever arm 51b is operated to move the shunt cam I3 out of operative position. The tubular shaft 49 and the coaxial shaft 59 are operated in any desired way and in suitable timed relation under the control of the pattern mechanism.

In this instance we have shown a shaft 69 (see Fig. 2) with tworotary cams 6| and 62 which operate two vertically disposed levers 63 and 64 pivoted at their lower ends to the frame of the machine, one of said levers 64 being connected by a link 65 with a crank 66 on theshaft 49 and the other of said levers 63 being connected by a similar link 61 with a similar crank 68 on the shaft 59. The lever 64 and the link 65 are shown broken away in order that the. lever 63 and link 61 beyond may be seen in Fig. 2. Each of the levers 63, 64 is provided with suitable springs 63a, 64a, to hold the connected lever with its respective cam Fig. 6 shows the location of the selecting cams ment of the pawl 99 with the away at. 990. To this rotary sleeve 99,

I4 and I5 which, as indicated in Fig. 7, are located below and on opposite sides of the conditioning cams 6a and 1a. The selecting cam I4 is carried by a radial slide 19, mounted in a suitable guide 1 I, provided with a spring 12, normally tending to move the cam into operative position with respect to the needle selecting jacks. The outer end of the slide 19 is connected to one end of a bell crank-lever 13 pivotally secured to the machine frame, the other end being connected by a link 14 with a crank 15 (see Fig. 5), on a shaft 16 extending through a tubular shaft 86 and provided at its opposite end with a crank 11, connected by a link 18 with an actuating lever 19, the opposite end of which is provided with a cam engaging portion, 19a.

The cam I5 is carried by a slide 89 supported -in a bracket 8I secured to the frame of the machine and. provided with a spring 82, normally tending to move the cam I5 into operative position with the butts of the needle selecting jacks. The outer end of the slide 89 is operatively connected with a lever 83 pivoted at one. end to the frame and having its outer end connected by a link 84 (see Fig. 5) with a crank 85 at one end of the tubular shaft 86, the other end of which is provided with a crank 81 connected by link 88 with one end of a lever 89 mounted'on the same pivot 19b as the lever 19, and provided at its outer end with a cam engaging portion 89a in vertical alignment with the cam engaging portion 19b of the lever 19.

The levers 19 and 89 are actuated by means of a plurality of cams 9,I, 92, 98 and.94 on a supported by a stationary post 95, supported on the framework of the machine, see Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5. The sleeve 99 is provided at its lower end with a ratchet wheel 96 below which is an oscillating ratchet plate 91 provided at one" end with a main pawl 98, below which is an auxiliary pawl 99, both pawls normally being held. in engagement with the ratchet tooth of the ratchet wheel 96 by a suitable spring. The ratchet plate 91 is oscillated by means of a link I99, best shown in Fig. 2, which connects one end of the plate 91 with the upper end of a lever I9I,,the lower end of which is,

cut away at the lower portion, as indicated at 99a (see Fig. 2) in alignment with the lower pawl 99 and below the main actuating pawl 98. We provide means for throwing the main actuating pawl 98 out of operative position at a predetermined point, which is represented by the engagetooth which is cut end we provide a cam I98 I99 of the machine, which on the pattern shaft lever 'I I9 connected by a operatively engages a link III with a bellcrank at its upper'end in position to engage a vertical pin 98a, see Figs. 2, 4 and- 5,- 'on an arm 98b of the pawl 98 on the opposite side of. the pivotal support thereo'f ratchet wheel. When the lever II9 engages the low portion of the cam I98, the pawl 98 will be disengaged fromthe ratchet wheel and the rotation of the sleeve 99 and the cams carried thereby will cease.

The lower I half of the ratchet wheel 96 has one of its teeth II2 carrying a pin II3 from the'part which engages the V In order to insure that the sleeve 90 and its cams will always be brought to rest at the same point even if th-epawl 98 should stick or otherwise become inoperative, the auxiliary pawl 99 is provided, and in such case the continued rotation of the sleeve will be accomplished by the pawl 99 until it falls into the space 99a formed by cutting away a tooth, and further rotary movements of the sleeve will then be prevented.

By reference to Fig. 2 it will be noted that the levers 89 and 19 are in position to engage respectivcly the rotary cams 9I and 93, being spaced by the engagement of suitable hubs, as shown. The hub of the lever I9 is rigidly connected with the pivot shaft 19b, the hub of the lever 89 being loose on the shaft and held in engagement therewith by a spring 190 (see Figs. 2 and 5). The pivot shaft I9 is supported in brackets secured to the main frame in such a manner that the shaft can move vertically and the upper end of the pivot shaft I9 carries a disc H4 (see Figs. 2 and 4) secured to the pivot shaft 19b and provided with an annular groove, which is engaged by inwardly extending projections on a yoke [I5 at one end of a lever IIB (see levers 89 and I9 into engagement respectively with the cam wheels or discs 92 and 94,

As previously described, the lever 89 controls the selecting cam I5, while the lever I9 controls the selecting cam II. It follows from this construction thatin starting up on bare needles to knit the anti-ravel or selvage, as before described, the levers 89 and I9 will engage respectively the cam discs 9| and 93, as shown in Fig. 2. These cams are constructed so that on the first movement of the cylinder in the clockwise direction to set up on bare needles, portion 19a of the lever I9 will enter a recess 93a, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. l, releasing the selecting cam I4, which will be forced inwardly into the gap G and far enough to engage both the long and short butts of the selecting jacks, so that as the cylinder is revolved in clockwise direction, as before scribed, the revolution of the cylinder in the reverse or counter clockwise direction also terminating with the gap G, in alignment with the selecting cam I4.

It will be understood that the revolution of the cylinder in each direction terminates with the gap in alignment with one or other of the selecting cams, so that when either of said cams is to be moved into operative position, it will 'not in-- terfere with or cause breakage of the butts of any of the selecting jacks, and to that end'the selecting cams will be of less horizontal width than the gap. Before the first course, composed entirely of body thread is knit, the low portion II9a of the cam II9 will effect the raising of the rod Ill and the spring 190 will depress the levers 89 and I9 into-operative relation with the cam other needle, willbe raised to receive the elastic thread to be subsequently interlaced between adjacent needles, and the revolution of the cylinder will continue. for two and a quarter revolutions, as before described, during a portion of which all the needles will take the body thread and form the anti-revel. When the first course is completed it will be understood that the gap G will be in alignment with the selecting cam I5, so that as the rotation of the cylinder is reversed, the portion 89a of the lever 89 will drop into the recessed portion 9Ia of the cam wheel 9|, and bring the selecting cam I 5 into position to engage only the long butts of the selecting jacks, it being limited in its inward movement by the con nections between the lever 89 and the cam I5, so that it cannot under any circumstances engage the short butts. The cylinder then makes two and a quarter revolutions, selecting during one revolution every fourth needle by means of the cam I5, to receive the elastic thread, and feeding body thread to all of the needles, as before dediscs 92 and 94 respectively. These discs are pro-' vided with recesses 92a and 94a, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4, and so arranged as to insure the formation of two intermediate courses, in this instance without permitting either of the selecting cams II or l5 to be moved into operative position, whereupon one or the other of said selecting cams will be brought into operative position, according to the direction of the rotary movement of the cylinder, and the selecting cams I4 and I5 will be controlled by the cam discs 92 and 94 during the remaining portion of the formation of that part of the top containing the elastic thread in courses spaced equally, and in this instance every third course.

It will be understood, however, that while in control of the cam discs 92 and 94, the selecting cam I4 will be moved inward only far enough to engage the long butts of the selecting jacks, and in this instance we provide lockout mechanism for preventing the cam II from moving into the full extent to which it is moved in the setting up course, This lockout mechanism comprises a lookout pin I20, which depends from the bellcrank I3 by which the slide III of the cam I4 is permitted to move inwardly, the said pin being engaged by one end of a lockout lever I2I (see Figs. 1, 3, 4 and 6), said knockout lever being connected with a vertically movable bar I22, the

lower end of which is slotted at I22a to engage 4 a pin I23 in the end of the pattern drum shaft (see Fig, 3). This bar I22 is provided with a friction roller I24 adapted to engage a cam projection I25 on a drum I28 mounted on the pattern shaft. The bar I22 is provided with a spring I21, in this instance connected to a stud on the bar end to the guiding stud I23, normally tending to draw the bar I22 downward and hold it in operative engagement with the lockout pin I28. This cam projection I25 or lug will be brought into engagement with the friction roller I28 during the time that the anti-ravel course is being formed and immediately thereafter the friction roller I24 will pass off of the projection or lug I25, permitting the spring I21 to raise the lockout lever I2I into position with respect to the pin to limit the inward movement of the cam I4 whenever it is released by its control mechanism during the knitting of the other elastic incorporated courses of the top.

After the completion of all the courses containing the elastic thread, the rotation of the sleeve and its associated cam discs will be discontinued, as before stated, at the point in the revolution of the sleeve 90 where the auxiliary pawl 99 engages the space 99a in the ratchet wheel 96. This will permit the knitting of the courses d, d2, d3 and d8, as previously described,

. was described.

with the body thread only, and without any introduction of the elastic thread. Obviously under these circumstances the lever 09 and I9 will not be actuated. In order to preclude any possibility of these levers being moved during the plain knit courses, we prefer to provide a secondary'lockout mechanism for the levers 89 and.

I9. This mechanism comprises a bellcrank lever I28 (see Fig. having an upwardly extending arm I29, which is thrown laterally into position to engage. both the levers 89 and I9 and hold them in their inoperative positions, the said bellcrank being operated by a vertically disposed rod I30 (see Fig. -3) connected at its upper end with the bellcrank lever I28 and at its lower end to a lever I3I pivoted to the frame and having a cam engaging portion for engaging a cam I32 on the pattern shaft of the machine. The lever I3I is hown provided with a spring I3Ia for holding it in operative relation with the cam:

We also provide means for automatically increasing the size of the stitch of. body thread, indicated at f in Fig. 13, in the transfer course of stitches -ollowing the formation of the stitches d, d2, d3 and d4. The increase in the size of the stitch may be produced by increasing the throw of the sinkers or by increasing the length of the stitch by varying the position of the drawdown cams, or both. In the drawings we have shown mechanism for accomplishing both of these results. For lengthening the stitch, the

cam block or cam ring is supported upon a vertically movable plate, indicated at I33, supported on a vertical slide I34. which maybe bodily raised or lowered by means of a cam I35 on the pattern cam shaft of the machine. Independent vertical adjustment of the cam, block is accomplished by means of a set screw I36 in the usual way.

The sinkers are not shown in detail in the drawings, but it will be understood that they will be of usual construction, and in Fig. 4 there is shown a horizontally movable pivoted sinker thread is-carried by one arm of a bellcrank lever I46 and held normally in operative position by a spring I41. The pattern cam shaft I09 is provided with a control cam for the latch openers, indicated at I48, which actuates a lever I49 pivoted coaxially with the levers I42 and l3l, the said lever I49 carrying at one end a vertical rod I50, the upperend of which is connected with a bellcrank lever I5I, having a vertical arm connected by link I52 with-the bellcrank I44 for actuating the latch opener I9. The other end of lever I49 is connected by a vertical rod, I53, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3, and shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the upper end of which is connected with a lever I54, which in turn is connected by a link I55 with a bellcrank lever I50, having a vertical arm in position to engagethe bellcrank I46 and movethe latch opener I8 out of operative position. By this means the latch openers are simultaneously moved into inoperative position as soon as the anti-ravel is com: pleted.

' We also preferably provide a second means for automatically pressing oil the top, at the conclusion of the raveling courses 9', g2,etc., by lifting the feed finger I6 for the body thread out of operative position, in a well known way. In the present instance (see Fig. 1 for example) the thread feed finger I6 is indicated at the upper part of the figure, pivotally mounted at Ilia and provided with a projection IIib, engaged by the usual spring I6c. Beneath this finger is provided a pivoted lever I51, pivoted between its ends in the adjacent bracket secured to the frame of the machine, having its inner end in engagement with the finger I5, and its outer end connected by a vertical rod I58 with a lever I59,

cam I31, so disposed as to increase the inward movement of the sinkers and cause them to t draw longer stitches, during the knitting of the transfer course. In this instance the lever I3! is provided with a pin I38, which is engaged by one end of a pivoted'lever I39 operatively connected with a bellcrank I40, one arm of which is connected by a vertical rod I with a lever I42, having a. cam engaging portion which engages a cam projection I43 on a cam disc mounted on the pattern shaft I09. This-cam projection I43 is of veryshort peripheral extent, and will simply actuate'the lever I39 and cam I31 to increase the inward throw of the sinkers during the single revolution when the transfer course f '(Fig. 13) is knit, after which the plate carrying the cam block and the sinkersl will resume their normal operation during the i'knitting of the raveling courses g, g2, 93 etc.

In the description of the operation of the machine, the operation of the latch openers during moved out of operative position. As shown, for example in Fig. 4, each of the latch openers is carried by a bellcrank lever. The latch opener I9 is carried by one arm of a bellcrank lever I44 and held in operative position by a spring I45, while the latch opener I0 for the elastic engaging a cam I on the main pattern shaft I09, so that after the raveling courses have been completed, the lever I51 'will raise the feed finger I6 while the cylinder is inmotion, fol-1 lowing the last raveling course and thus preventing the feed of body thread to the needles, whereupon the needles will cast off their stitches and the completed circular plain knit elastic incorporated top, constructed as previously described, will be freed'fromthe machine and be supported only by the elastic thread E and body thread B, leaving the machine free for the starting'of another top by setting up on bare needles and forming an anti-ravel in the manner previously described.

It will be understood that the presence of the gap G in the needle series facilitates the movement of the movable selecting cams I4 and I5 and shunt cams I2 and I3 radially into operative position so as to act upon the first needle at one or the other side" of the gap, according to the the needles past the thread feed finger H for the elastic thread, after which the selecting cam is withdrawn,- then past the feed finger I0 for the inelastic thread, after which the shunt cam in operation is withdrawn, suiliciently further to come to rest with the gap G into alignment with the other selecting cam before reversing. It will also be understood that during the first rotation in each direction, whether elastic thread has been fed to the selected needles or not, one Or other of the shunt cams is moved inwardly into operative position, when inalignment with the get), so that the cams I2, I3, and I4, II can be 

